Manchester City defenders should concentrate on not making mistakes if they want to keep their place in the team, according to Pep Guardiola.
John Stones and Ruben Dias played together against Olympiacos in midweek and then lined up again against Burnley, keeping their second clean sheet of the week to lay the platform for two positive results.
Dias has quickly become a mainstay in the side because of his ability not to err, with the team conceding fewer goals in the seven games he has started than in the two that came before he completed his move from Benfica. Stones has also returned to the side - Aymeric Laporte was left out of the squad on Saturday with the manager challenging all players to up their games - and has been encouraged to show the level of performance that made Guardiola demand his signing in 2016.
The challenge for the former Everton defender has always been to be able to play well twice a week every week. Having failed to rise to it for the last two years while suffering from injury and personal issues, City's boss has told Stones and the rest of the defence all they need to do to stay in the team.
"We played two already with John [Stones]," Guardiola said. "In pre-season it was difficult to fulfil that. Some of the time it was because of my decision but most of the time it was because of injuries.
"It is good because he was so concentrated on not making mistakes.
"What we are looking for from the back four is ‘don’t make mistakes’. If your opponents are good and you make a good action, it is not about this. Make mistakes when you can avoid it, then people up front are going to score the goals."
